Author: chicagoinquirer

by Brian Mahoney NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 32 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds despite a bruised left knee and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals by beating the Indiana Pacers 111-94 on Thursday night in Game 5. The Knicks won on their home floor for the first time in the series and prevented the Pacers from earning the second NBA Finals trip in franchise history. Indiana will try again Saturday night at home. Knicks fans chanted “Knicks in 7! Knicks in 7!” in the final minutes as New York…

by Gene Chamberlain LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams sought to quiet the controversy about how he hadn’t wanted to come to his current team prior to the 2024 draft. Williams admitted an ESPN story about an upcoming book by Seth Wickersham on quarterbacks was true in that he did like the idea of going to the Minnesota Vikings initially, but this was prior to his first visit to Chicago. Then, Williams said, he wanted to be with the Bears. “Yeah, I had a good visit at the other place — Minnesota, with (coach) Kevin O’Connell,” Williams…

by Cliff Brunt OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder tried their best to balance the euphoria of the moment with the fact that they haven’t completed their mission. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Thunder routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 on Wednesday night to win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. After the win, the league MVP was measured in his excitement. Oklahoma City will play the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks in the finals. Indiana leads the Eastern Conference finals series 3-1 with Game…

by Annie Ma and Collin Binkley WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the U.S. will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, including those studying in “critical fields.” China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States, behind only India. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those…

by Chris Megerian and Kevin Freking WASHINGTON — Elon Musk is criticizing the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, a significant fracture in a partnership that was forged during last year’s campaign and was poised to reshape American politics and the federal government. The billionaire entrepreneur, who supported Trump’s candidacy with at least $250 million and has worked for his administration as a senior adviser, said he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.” The legislation includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. While speaking to CBS, Musk described it as a…

by Sonja Smith WINDHOEK, Namibia — Namibia marked the mass killings of Indigenous people in the early 20th century by former colonial ruler Germany with its first genocide remembrance day on Wednesday. The day was declared a national holiday last year by the government and was commemorated for the first time with a ceremony in the gardens of the national Parliament in the capital, Windhoek. Between 1904 and 1908, tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people were massacred or forced into concentration camps and starved by German colonial forces under the command of Gen. Lothar von Trotha, in what…

BOWLING GREEN, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods needs to make room on his trophy shelf for son Charlie. The 16-year-old finished with a three-round score of 15-under 201 at the Team TaylorMade Invitational on Wednesday in winning his first American Junior Golf Association event at the Streamsong Resort Black Course. Woods began the day tied at 9-under 135 and finished with a final round of 6-under 66 to top a 71-player field that included four of the top-five ranked AJGA’s players. Woods’ final round featured eight birdies and two bogeys, and he closed with four straight pars. He won the…

by Leah Willingham BOSTON — Harvard University will relinquish 175-year-old photographs believed to be the earliest taken of enslaved people to a South Carolina museum devoted to African American history as part of a settlement with one of the subjects’ descendants. The photos of the subjects identified by Tamara Lanier as her great-great-great-grandfather Renty, whom she calls “Papa Renty,” and his daughter Delia will be transferred from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to the International African American Museum in South Carolina, the state where they were enslaved in 1850 when the photos were taken, a lawyer for Lanier…

by Michael Marot INDIANAPOLIS — With the New York Knicks teetering on the brink of a third consecutive playoff loss and Jalen Brunson stuck on the bench with five fouls after three quarters, Karl-Anthony Towns took matters into his own hands. The Knicks needed everything he could muster — even on a sore knee. Towns scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as New York erased yet another 20-point deficit, and Brunson helped close out the 106-100 victory Sunday night to take Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals — making it three straight wins for the…

Bill Barrow BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On a day when stock markets around the world dropped precipitously, Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl led a celebration of the president whose global tariffs sparked the sell-off. With no mention of the Wall Street roller coaster and global economic uncertainty, Wahl declared his state GOP’s “Trump Victory Dinner” — and the broader national moment — a triumph. And for anyone who rejects President Donald Trump, his agenda and the “America First” army that backs it all, Wahl had an offer: “The Alabama Republican Party will buy them a plane ticket to any country…